Charles e



(ModeL) C. E.- DAVIS.

I SEAL LOOK. No. 466,396. Patented Jan. 5, 1892.

U I-TED STATES Pnarrnv-T CHARLES E. DAVIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHN IV. NORRIS,

' OF SAME PLACE.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 466,396, dated January 5,1892.

- Application filed April 26, 1889. Serial No. 308,747. (Model).

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLEsE. DAvIs, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to looks especially adapted for use in securing car orwarehouse doors, such locks being adapted to be opened only after rupturing the seal contained there 1n, and it is an improvement on a lock pat-- ented to me April 24, 1888, patent numbered 381,534. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective showing the lock fastened with the seal in place. Fig. 2 is an axial sectionthrough the locking-bolt from front to rear, the position being the same as that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail section similar to Fig. 1 as respects the upper part of. the lock, the parts being shown in the position which they occupy after the bolt has been turned to break the seal and before it has been withdrawn to release the hasp. Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 2 as respects the upper part of the lock, showing the bolt in the position to which it might be moved in an attempt to forcibly open the look without rotating the bolt to break the seal. Fig. 5 is a section of the frame at the line 5 5 on Fig. 2.

The invention illustrated consists in providing, in addition to the spring-catch to engage the bolt to prevent its longitudinal movement, a gravity-catch also, and in locating the two in respect to each other in such manner that force applied to drive the bolt endwise must be received first by the gravity-catch, and in so relating said catch to the frame that sufficient force to dislodge it by blows applied to the endof the bolt will break the frame.

A is the frame. ,3 is the' bolt. 0 is the hasp. D is the keeper or staple over which the hasp hooksand through which the boltB is thrust when locked. bis the seal-breaking portion. B is the seal-retaining lug on the bolt. 13 is the handle bywhich it is manipulated. b is a notch in the bolt, which receives the spring-catch E. 12 is a second notch in of the lock.

the bolt, which receives the gravity-catch E. All these parts, except the gravity-catch and its notch on the bolt, are substantially the same as are shown in my former patent, No.

381,534, though in some minor details differing in form.

The gravity-catch Iwill now particularly describe. It is seated in the recess a, formed in the back of the frame A, and, more precisely, back of the bearing-A of the bolt. This recess has an inclined back or bottom a which is the seat of the catch E. This seat is preferably concavely inclined, and the under side 6 of the catch is curvedconvexly fore fill its seat, except as to a small space in the rear upper corner. When the bolt is moved longitudinally to bring the notch b in front of the catch E, the latter, relieved of the restraint of the bolt, will slide downward and forward, its point projecting into the notch, as seen in Fig. 2. If now the bolt be forcibly pushed upward, the catch E will be lifted directly upward, its point still remaining in the notch and its rear upper corner e resting against the rear wall of the cavity and 8 5 traveling up against the straight portion a thereof until the upper end of the catch strikes the upper end of the cavity and isstopped thereby. The amount. of motion which the bolt can thus .receive is not sufficient to release either the seal or the hasp, and therefore does not interfere with the efiectiveness Above the cavity a the cavity a contains the spring-catch E, which maybe of any convenient form. As illustrated, it is a 5 folded wire spring having the arm 6 resting in the back of the cavity a and the arm e tending to react forward and protrude into the notch b when it is present in front of it.

The distance from the end of the-arm 6 when it is thus standing protruded forward to the point of the catch E when it is resting in the When, however, it is 70 notch b and lifted until its upper end strikes the upper end of the cavity a is a little greater than the distance between the shoulders which form the bottom or stop ends of the notches b and b, respectively, so that when the bolt is forcibly pushed upward in the-manner described it will be stopped positively by the gravity-catch E before the bottom of the notch I) will strike the spring.

The operation of this look is precisely the same in all respects, so far as its proper manipulation is concerned, as that described in my patent, No. 381,534. For the present understanding of it I will describe this operation briefly: hen the lock is fastened and the seal in position, as seen in Fig. 1,in order to open the lock the boltB will be rotated by means of its handle, and in this rotation the part b (assisted, in the form shown in the drawings, also, by the lug 13 which projects from the stop or lug B) breaks the seal, and the same movement forces back both the catches E and E out of the notches in which they are respectively lodged, so that after a quartertnrn of the bolt it can be moved longitudinally, being thereby withdrawn and releasing the hasp. In order to again lock and seal it, the bolt will be rotated back a quarterturn to its first position and another frangible seal similar to the one broken in the process described will be placed on the flat surface I) of the bolt and under the projecting lug 13 and the hasp being placed over the keeper the bolt will be pushed down, carrying the seal with it into the seal-seat of the frame and simultaneously passing through the keeper and securing the hasp. In this movement, or, rather, just before the limit of it is reached, the catches E and E will enter their respective notches in the bolt and lock it against upward longitudinal movement, as at starting. These locks being designed for use upon railway-cars, and such cars being liable to be frequently transferred from the road to which they belong to other roads whose employs may not be familiar with the mode of manipulating the lock, especially if at the time the lock contains no seal, (which when present suggests the rotary movement by which it is broken,) are liable to be roughly handled in the attempt to open the lock, it being obvious at a glance that the bolt must be withdrawn longitudinally to release the hasp, but not being obvious that it must first be rotated in order to be withdrawn, and in the necessity for opening the lock promptly operatives often attempt to drive the bolt up forcibly, imagining that it is only stuck fast and intended to be so operated. \Vhen the spring-catch only is employed, such forcible attempts mutilate the spring and successfully open the look, but in such manner that it is not apparent exteriorly that the lock has been improperly handled, and the spring may be so bent in the operation that it will not absolutely prevent the lock being again fastened and fitted with a seal in the proper manner without it being discovered that the spring is no longer operative, and thereby the lock, supposed to be securely sealed, is sent out pr actically without protection, because the sprin g no longer detains the bolt and the seal can, in fact, be removed without difficulty. To prevent this and to make it immediately apparent if a lock has been manipulated in the manner described, I provide the gravity-catch, which, it will be observed, will receive the immediate force of any blow applied to the bolt to force it upward, and Imake this catch of sufficient size and strength and the portion of the lock-frame which forms its seat sufiicientlylight so that the frame will be broken by a blow applied to the bolt before the catch will be broken, and thereby the fact that the lock has been thus improperly treated will be obvious, and it will not, therefore, be used again with the seal under misapprehension.

In order to reduce the cost of construction to the lowest possible fignre,I cast the frame A with the part which eventually becomes the hearing A, as shown in Fig. 5, having two forwardly-projecting flanges, which are folded together, as shown in dotted line 1n that figure, to form the bearing, the casting being made malleable for that purpose. Being formed in this way, the bearing cannot be relied upon to be very closely fitted to the bolt, and it might occasionally be so loose that it would be possible, especially when the bolt were pushed up, as in Fig. 4-, lifting its head off the upper end of the bar, toinserta wire into the bearing and engage the catch and disengage it fromthe bolt. To prevent this mode of tampering with the look, I prefer to form the bearingA with the annulariiange A around the upper end and to provide the bolthead B with a downwardly-projecting annularlip B adapted to pass outside of the flange A", said lip and flange being longer than the distance which the bolt can be lifted from its lowest position to the position shown in Fig. 4. By this means it is practically impossible to introduce any manipulating-wire into the bearing to release the catch.

In order that the forcible attempt to open the look by driving up the bolt, if done when the seal is in place, may break the seal, and so give evidence of the attempt, I provide the locking-bolt with the projection b standing upward into the space formed by cutting away the bolt to make the fiat portion b, whereon the seal rests when it is in position and below the space occupied by the seal, said projection being preferably pointed upward, the point standing just below the lower edge of the seal when the bolt is in locked position, as in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the commencement of theupward movementof the bolt, by which it is forced into the position shown in Fig. 4, carries the point of the projection under the seal and wedges it forward against the retaining-lip of the frame, so that in the further movement of the bolt to the position shown in Fig. 4 the projection 6 being further wedged in behind the seal, breaks it.

I claim- 1. In a seal-lock, in combination with the frame, the bolt journaled therein, having both rotary andlongitudinal movement in its bearings and having-a part which breaks the seal by its rotary motion, a spring-catch, and a gravity-catch, both lodged in the frame and each independently of the other engaging the bolt to prevent its longitudinal movement out of its looking position, substantially as set forth.

2. In a seal-lock, in combination with the frame, the bolt journaled therein and having both rotary and longitudinal movement in its bearings and having a part which breaks the seal by its rotary motion and havinga transverse notch b, the frame having a recess back of the bearing of said bolt and opening into said bearing, said recess ending abruptly at its upper end and having its bottom sloping downward and forward toward the bolt-bearing, and a catch in said cavity seated on the sloping bottom, whereby it tends to slide into engagement With the notch b when the same is in front of it, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

. 3. I11 combination with the frame havinga seal-receivin g space, the bolt journaled in the frame an d'extending behind the seal-receiving space and having a shoulder which 00- operates with the frame to retain the seal in the space, and the tapering projection 17 on the bolt, adapted to enter behind the seal when the bolt is moved away from its normal position when locked, whereby such motion of the bolt tends to break the seal, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two witnesses, at Chicago, Illinois, this 11th day of April, 1889.

CHAS. E. DAVIS.

Witnesses:

CHAs. S. BURTON, JEAN ELLIOTT. 

